


where the heart is

by postmoderne



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, Minimal Age Difference, Step-Brothers, mentions of wanking and stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-09
Updated: 2014-07-09
Packaged: 2018-02-08 03:55:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1925805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/postmoderne/pseuds/postmoderne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry dislikes his step-brother Niall a lot (until he doesn't).</p>
            </blockquote>





	where the heart is

-

Harry is 5 (1/2) when his mum decides to remarry a guy named Bobby Horan. 

He believes Bobby to be nice enough with his kind blue eyes and Irish accent, but the problem is, that he has a son. Bobby's son is a brat, that is all Harry can think of when he meets the other boy for the first time. Niall is is name and Niall is foul-mouthed, loud, bubbly and over a year older than Harry.

He's in school already and has so many friends, Harry is sure he wouldn't be able to count them even if he could count past 3 already. That many friends. They're all older than Harry, too, and they don't talk to him when Niall invites them over, because he's 'just a baby'. Harry doesn't think he's just a baby, because, only one year age difference, right? Okay, a little more than a year, but anyway.  
He thinks Niall and his friends are stupid and mean and he tells his mum that he doesn't want them to come over to his house anymore.

Harry's mother smiles slightly at her son's big pout and pats his hair. "It's alright, hun, I'm sure if you ask them if you could play with them, they'd say yes"  
"But I don't want to play with them, they're meanies! Especially Niall! I hate Niall!"  
"Sweetie, hate is a big word, you're sure you hate your brother?", she asks gently and continues caressing Harry's hair.  
Harry crosses his arms in front of his chest. "He isn't my brother, mum, not really"

-

Harry is almost 8, when he finally finds a real friend at school. He isn't good at talking to other people and making friendships, he isn't like his step-brother, who just walks up to anyone with a huge smile and talks to them. Harry doesn't envy that character trait of Niall, of course not, Niall is still stupid and rude to him, still saying that Harry's an infant.

Zayn is different than Niall in every way possible and Harry thinks that that's the thing he likes most about the dark-haired lad. Zayn is chill and cool and mostly only rolls his eyes when Harry trips over something from time to time instead of laughing at him.  
He asks Zayn to come over to his after school, he wants to show-off his new and best friend to his family and particularly Niall.

Before he lets Zayn meet Niall, though, he warns the tanned bloke.  
"Niall is stupid and mean and an idiot, yeah? Don't let him befriend you, you'll regret it!"  
Zayn frowns and nods earnestly, following behind Harry and entering the house.

Bobby is in the kitchen on the stove and cooks something that looks like noodles and Bolognese sauce. Niall is nowhere to be seen. Maybe he's out with his friends playing football or something, Harry hopes.  
"That smells good, Mr Horan!", Zayn says politely and Bobby turns around to the boys.

"Oh, thanks!", the man smiles and nods. "You're...?"  
"That's Zayn, Bobby", Harry quickly explains. "He's my friend from school".  
Bobby hums and smiles at Zayn. "Lunch is ready in a few, you boys can go into Harry's room or ask Niall if he wants to play football or something, yeah? I'll call you when lunch's ready"

"Yes, thanks, Bobby!", Harry exclaims and grabs Zayn's wrist, dragging him up to his room. "We're not going to do anything with Niall, okay? Remember what I told you?"  
Zayn nods and sits on Harry's bed. "Is he really that bad? His father seems very nice, though"  
"Yeah, yeah, Bobby's alright...", Harry sighs and shrugs. "Niall isn't."

"Niall isn't what?", someone else pipes up from the door to Harry's room and of course it's the devil they were speaking about.  
"Niall isn't allowed to enter my room!", Harry grunts and narrows his eyes towards Niall. "Now leave!"  
The older lad only lifts his eyebrows and turns his gaze to Zayn. "Who're you?"

"I'm Zayn", Zayn replies and stares wide-eyed at Niall, who smiles now. Harry should've known that Niall would try to win his only friend over.  
"I'm Niall, but I guess Harry here already told you about me.", he grins mischievously. "Did I murder someone already or am I still just stupid and dumb and a twat?"

Zayn's eyes widen even more and his jaw falls a little agape. "Y-You killed someone?"  
There's a minute of silence, where both Niall and Harry stare bewilderedly at Zayn. Then Niall starts to laugh and doesn't stop for a long, long time.  
"Jesus, no, I didn't kill anyone!", he cries from laughter and holds his sides. "What the heck?!"

Harry's not sure how it happened, but Niall and Zayn become some kind of mates after that day, which makes him hate Niall even more.

-

Harry is 14, when Niall brings home a girl named Amy for the first time and he doesn't know how that makes him feel. Niall says it's for a school project, but even a blind person could see that it's definitely not a school project whatever they're doing in Niall's room. It makes Harry furious and he doesn't understand his own feelings anymore. Niall is a complete, utter nuisance, despite that he sometimes smiles so secretively and then laughs so loudly and he's so sweet to Harry's mum. Harry can't stand him. At all.

Harry tells Zayn about Niall and Amy at school and the raven-haired boy just looks down at his fingers and pales. "Is Amy his girlfriend, then?"  
The curly-haired bloke cocks his head and huffs, trying not to think too hard about it. "What do I know? Maybe?"  
"Do you mind that she's his girlfriend?"  
"What? No, of course I don't. I don't bloody care who he's with!", he scoffs and hits the table with his fist. "Why do you care?!"  
This time Zayn blushes furiously and packs his school stuff, leaving Harry behind without another word.

Harry expects the worst.

-

That afternoon, Harry knocks at Niall's door and waits until a frustrated groan allows him to enter.  
"Whatcha want, little bro?"  
"Don't call me bro. I want to talk about my friend... and also your friend... Zayn", Harry says and sits next to Niall onto the bed, who puts his phone away with a sigh. He's probably been texting his girlfriend, Harry thinks sourly.  
"What's with him?"

"I don't know for sure... but I think he has a crush on you", he admits and looks at the now blond lad out of the corner of his eye. "And it hurts him that you're with Amy."  
Niall doesn't say anything for a couple of moments. Then: "What do you expect me to do now? Break up with my girlfriend?"  
Harry shrugs, a strange lump building in his throat. "Perhaps talk to him?"  
Niall lets out yet another sigh. "That's not... that's... I don't know, Harry, it's not like... it's my problem, you see?"

"What? Yes, it is your damn problem, Niall!", Harry hisses at the blond and faces him fully. "Zayn likes you, but it's unrequited and he's hurting!"  
"You said you don't know that for sure!", Niall retorts and props himself up into a more sitting position. "Maybe he's lovesick because of someone else?"

"Someone else? And who might that be? Amy? He doesn't know her!", Harry's voice gets louder and less controlled. "And he asked if she's your girlfriend!"  
"So what? So what he asked?", Niall shouts throws himself at Harry. "So what if I tell you it's you he likes, you bloody prat!?"

Harry tries to wriggle out of the older boy's grasp, but Niall has him pinned down by his wrists, straddling his legs so that he can't move.  
"Zayn doesn't like me, he would've told me if he did!"  
Niall snorts at that and rolls his eyes. "Do you really think Zayn's the kind of person to tell a crush he likes them?"  
Harry bites his lips and doesn't dare to look into those accusing blue eyes of Niall.  
"Thought so, bro."

Harry gulps. "You really think he likes me... and not you?"  
Niall chuckles and says yes. "I'm very sure about that, trust me."  
He still has Harry pinned down underneath him and it makes feel the curly-haired boy so right but so wrong in some places of his heart and body. He gulps again, now looking straight into Niall's eyes, letting the blue of them swallow him whole.

"What if I don't like him back, though? What if I like someone else?", Harry whispers and is too aware of their position, of Niall's hands and legs touching him and it makes him feel hot all over. Niall blinks at him and says nothing. He gets off the younger boy and sits back, leaning against the wall of his bed.  
"That's... your own problem, then...", the blond replies and his voice sounds somewhat strained. He concentrates on his phone after that and Harry nods and leaves Niall's room.

He only notices his half-hard prick when he's back in his very own room. "Shit", he moans. "Shit shit shit shit shit".

14-year old Harry ends up having a warm shower wank over his 16-year old step-brother Niall.

-

Turns out that Harry really is Zayn's object of affection and they try dating, even though Harry's heart isn't in it. Zayn told Niall that he likes Harry, the curly-haired lad finds out, so that's how the blond knew. That little arsehole.

Dating doesn't really work out for Harry and Zayn. Or maybe it does for Zayn, Harry doesn't know, but he himself isn't all too comfortable kissing his best mate in public or even in the safety of his own room, when Zayn isn't the person on his mind while they're lip-locked.

Their relationship only holds on until Niall breaks up with Amy.

-

Harry is 15, when Niall tells him that it's over with Amy and he probably shouldn't be as happy as he is to hear these news. He breaks up with Zayn barely three weeks later. They don't part on good terms, Harry didn't expect that and he's fine with it. He feels guilty for starting the romance in the first place, when he clearly knew that it wasn't going to work out.

When he tells the blond that he and Zayn aren't a couple anymore, either, Niall jokes about them being 'Single Brothers', but Harry corrects him and says "Step-Single-Brothers". Niall doesn't reply anything to that, he only looks at Harry with clouded eyes and frowns.

-

Harry is 17, when he and Zayn become friends again. Niall is away at University to study sound engineering and he only visits twice a month. Harry misses him a little, but now that he has Zayn again, it's better.

"How's Niall?", the tanned lad wonders while they sit in Harry's living room in front of the TV and play FIFA. Harry hums and shrugs.  
"He's alright, I guess. Very busy. Told us he's got a lot of new friends... which is no surprise, honestly.", he can't help but sound a little gloomy.

Zayn next to him on the floor groans and lays the controller aside. "Just admit that you like and miss him, Harry. I know you do."  
Harry stares at his friend with wide eyes. "What? No, I don't! He's my brother! That's disgusting! I don't like him!"

The raven-haired boy only rolls his eyes at that. "You always correct everyone who says 'you're brothers' to 'no, we're step-brothers'. And I think that says a lot about how disgusting you find it."  
Harry blushes and glares at him. "Fuck you, Malik."  
"Just man up and tell him. I think you even liked him more than me the time we were together...", Zayn muses and only sounds the slightest bit disgruntled about it.

"I don't. I can't do that, Zayn. That's not... right. I don't know. It seems wrong. We're somehow brothers anyway, you know?"  
Zayn nods silently and bites his lower lip. "You told me you hated him at first."  
Harry closes his eyes. "Yeah", he breathes. "I did. But it was just... just a child disliking another child. A sibling. Someone new. It was just..."

"I still think you should tell him.", Zayn says and takes the controller into his hands again.  
"Maybe when he visits mum, Bobby and me. Maybe then.", Harry replies and sighs.

-

After Zayn's gone, Harry rummages around in Niall's old room for the picture of the blond sitting on the edge of a swimming pool, dripping wet in only his swim trunks and smirking into the camera.  
It's not the first time Harry's touching his dick to this picture, not the first time he almost cums all over it, all over Niall's naked upper body and white teeth and bottle blond hair engraved in a small piece of paper.

He's not proud of himself, sitting on his step-brother's bed in his step-brother's room, wanking to his step-brother's face. He's not all too ashamed either, because he'd do anything to get that face all over his body. Sometimes when he imagines Niall on his knees, sucking him, he can't remember that he ever disliked the blond.

-

It's Harry's 18th birthday, when Niall arrives at home from Uni and announces that he'll stay for three weeks and this somehow becomes the best birthday present Harry could've wished for.

"Happy being finally a legal adult, little bro!", Niall cheers and engulfs Harry in a hug. He's smaller than Harry, more delicate and the green-eyed boy just loves it.  
"Don't call me little bro, please", he whispers into Niall's ear and hugs him a little tighter.  
He feels Niall's skin heating and he's actually really blushing when they pull away.

"Yeah, you're... taller than I am now.", he smiles a little uncomfortably and scratches the back of his head. "I'm older, though, after all."  
Harry looks down at him and smirks, after all these years where Niall's been superior, he finally feels that he's in control now.

"Uhm", Niall glances to the left and to the right. "Didn't you invite anyone to your birthday party? Or is it over already?", he has a short gawp at the clock in the living room. "It's only 7pm? Don't you guys, like, get wasted at a pub or... go to a disco? Meet some chicks or dicks?"  
Harry shakes his head and bites his lip.  
Niall frowns up at him and eyes him warily. "You're so lame, Harry, seriously, you have to get drunk and enjoy being an adult. You're legal to do almost everything now."

This gets Harry's heart beat faster and he takes a step towards Niall, placing his large hands on the blond's slim hips. "Yeah, I'm legal to do... everything now... Niall--"  
His step-brother's eyes widen as he realises what Harry is on about. "No, Harry-- no, that's not--"  
Harry doesn't listen to him and only leans closer, resting his forehead against Niall's, who squeezes his eyes shut. "Harry..."  
"Just a kiss for the birthday boy?"

"Bloody hell, Harry, we're, we're--", Niall stammers and tries to shy away, but Harry won't let him.  
"Not related by blood, Niall.", Harry breathes against Niall's lips and attempts to peck them, but his lips only meet the blond's corner of his mouth, because he turned his head slightly.

Harry presses the other lad's body closer to his own and buries his face in his neck. "Niall-- I-- I think I'm in love with you."  
He feels the blond's body stiffen in his embrace, so he suppresses a sigh and lets him go. "Sorry.", he whispers and shoves his hands into his pockets.

"No, no. I'm sorry. I knew you... you liked me more than it's okay for a sibling. I just. I'm just afraid of what... you know? We're brothers, for god's sake! That's just in my head, you're my little brother, thinking about you in that way is so wrong, so, so wrong and it's--"  
"We share no blood, Niall, we... we don't even share a last name! Mum may be a Horan now, but I'm still a Styles and if we marry, you're going to take my surname!", Harry whisper-shouts desperately and just so holds himself back from stomping on the floor like a child.

Niall looks at him out of wide eyes and his cheeks redden to a strawberry colour.  
"You're quite possibly insane.", he tells the taller boy and cradles his face with trembling hands. "And I quite possibly love you, too, little bro.". He presses his lips to Harry's and their teeth clash slightly and their lips are too dry, but after they found their rhythm, it's perfect anyway. Their lips slide against each other and Harry's hands are all over Niall's body, wanting, feeling the need to touch the blond everywhere.

When they pull apart, they're both breathless and Harry is stone hard. "N-Ni--", he whines and searches for any part of Niall's skin with his lips and his tongue. "C-Can we, maybe--"  
"Yes, god, yes, fu--", the blond breathes and stumbles backwards into the direction of the couch. "Where are Bobby and Anne...?"  
"Sent them on a date, wanted to be alone, ugh, with you--", Harry moans and pushes the older bloke into the cushions, putting one leg in between of Niall's, rutting against him, seeking some much wanted friction. "You're so beautiful, Niall, I-- I wanked to the image of you, I--"  
"Fuck, Harry--", Niall groans and bucks his hips into Harry's. "That's so-- fucking hot--", he catches Harry's lips with his own again and they start making out passionately, until Niall gets his hand into Harry's pants and begins pumping his dick. It's rough and their position is uncomfortable, but soon enough they both come in their pants like 13-year olds.

Out of breath, they lay next to each other on the couch, not able to believe what just happened. Harry lifts his fingers and Niall intertwines his own with them.  
"Next time we do it better, alright, little bro?"  
Harry rolls his eyes, but chuckles anyway, he's giddy because there will be a next time and he's ignoring the sticky mess in his pants as he nods. "Alright, big bro."

-

Harry's 19 (1/2), when Niall and he move to London, so that he can study law there. They share a flat and it's too small and Harry has yet to earn money, but it's acceptable, because they're a family and together they're going to manage everything thrown in their way.

-

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry for any errors or mistakes, hope you liked it! x


End file.
